As usual, we’ll go from least to most hoppy and start with the one I’ve had before, the Oktoberfest. Pours a little light for an Okoberfest, a kind of ruddy amber, with a two-finger white head. Taste is very dry, almost roasted chocolate and coffee beans, with a crisp, clean finish and a crackery aftertaste. Possibly the driest Oktoberfest I’ve had, but still representative of the style. I like it a lot.

Next up is the Founders Inspired Artist Black IPA. Made for the Grand Rapids ArtPrize, this is a special release that I believe is exclusive to Michigan. Poured it into a glass and got immediate roasty malt aroma and citrus/floral hops. I actually audibly gasped at the aroma. It was that good.

Sorry about the flash on that pic. It’s hard when you’re taking pictures of black beer under normal lighting. And yes, that’s Classic Who in the background. The Seeds of Doom, if anyone cares.

Once the beer settles down a bit there’s a classic roasty quality with that nice citrus floral bite. What sets this one apart (and makes me like it more than many Black IPAs) is the hint of spicy/earthy hop in the hop build, which helps connect the two sometimes disparate flavors. I’ve seen a lot of European beer writers claim that the Black IPA is really just a hoppy stout, but I wonder if they’ve had some of the better examples of the style. (Or, at least, the more American-hopped versions.) Black IPA is a style that I tend to regard with suspicion, at best, but this one is worth picking up if you can get it.

Another long workday, ready for a couple of beers and leftover dinner.

First, a single bottle of Short’s Controversius Maximus. Definitely overly sweet for me, although I’ve heard that this bottle may be way older than it should be for a DIPA. You definitely get the alcohol burn here. I’m a big fan of ControversiALE (formerly Hangin’ Frank) but this one isn’t quite for me.

Short’s Controversius Maximus DIPA

All right, onto the next beer, Founders Red’s “Rye PA.” Formerly a year-round, but apparently really expensive to produce, so they’ve turned it into a seasonal four-pack. Since this is probably my all-time favorite rye beer, I was definitely interested in trying it, especially since at the time of this writing this bottle is all of eleven days old.

You definitely get more of that earthy funk from the rye than I remember in this beer, but I don’t think I’ve ever had it this fresh. Nice sweetness from that amber malt character. (Added via crystal malt? You can never be sure with these kinds of beers.) Just as dank as the Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye, but much more drinkable. I think if anything they’ve made this beer better by turning it from a year-round to a seasonal.

In an attempt to create content for the blog, I’m going to start doing brief rundowns of the beers I drink when I open new, cool stuff.

Got off from work around 11:15, started re-heating leftover pasta sauce for dinner. Cracked the brand new Stone 17th Anniversary Gotterdammerung IPA, all German malts and hops. Slightly darker than straw yellow color, more of a light orange/brown with a thin head. Aroma and flavor are all earthy spice, as expected from an all-German hopped beer. I wish it had a bit more body to back up the hops and to accentuate it’s “German-ness,” but ultimately Stone made the beer they want to make.

Stone 17th Anniversary Gotterdamerung IPA

Nine percent ABV. Lots of hops. Late night. I think that’s it for me (especially after a large and very late dinner). Cheers.

I’ve been a very Bad Blogger as of late, but hopefully life has settled down so that I can spend a bit more time talking about beer here on the blog.

Tipping our toes back into the water, here’s a quick review of the new Stone collaboration beer, the R&R Coconut IPA. My buddy Ryan was one of the winners of the contest that led to this beer, but I didn’t let that affect my opinion too much.